Funding terminated from failing academy trust

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Wrenn Academy is one of five Education Fellowship Trust schools to be rated inadequate by Ofsted

An academy trust has had its funding terminated following a series of poor Ofsted inspections.

Five of the 12 schools sponsored by the Education Fellowship Trust (TEFT) are currently rated as “inadequate”.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it had agreed to a request from the trust to terminate its funding agreement “following ongoing concerns” about educational performance.

It is the first time an academy chain has had to give up all of its schools.

The Islip-based trust is responsible for the education of about 6,500 students in Northamptonshire, Wiltshire and Maidenhead in Berkshire.

Of the five schools rated inadequate, three were issued with termination warning notices last September. A fourth warning came in January.

The Education Fellowship Trust’s failing schools

The following five out of the Education Fellowship Trust’s 12 schools were rated inadequate by Ofsted.

Ruskin Junior School, Wellingborough

Blackthorn Primary School, Northampton

Risdene Academy, Rushden

Rushden Community College, Rushden

Wrenn School, Wellingborough

Source: Department for Education

The trust’s schools will now have to be transferred to new sponsors.

Its chief operating officer, Lizzie Rowe, said it had requested to transfer its academies “following a review of financial constraints facing the education sector and the misalignment of values with the DfE”.